Walking in the Word with Breast Cancer

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. - Romans 8:28-29 When suffering enters our lives, it can be so hard to remember this truth, but everything He allows into our lives is for the ultimate good. Every single thing. Every blessing, every challenging moment, every difficult person, every heartbreaking loss, every deep trial. It's all for our good.  As sinful people, we have such a tendency to point our finger at the situation or the other person when trials come. We want Him to heal our loved one, fix the other person, mend the relationship, make our lives easier. But that's not the good God has for us in our trials.  Suffering is a call to put our trust in Him and not in the things of this world. It's an opportunity to g

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. - Romans 8:28-29 For me, this verse holds the greatest truth in Scripture. So many times I've gone though the deep valleys, I’ve turned to this verse. I love the comfort that it provides no matter what is in front of me. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.  The words "we know" in particular bring me such peace. I don't just hope or wonder if He will bring good out of my trials, I can *know* that's what He is doing.  Even when it doesn't make any sense to me at all, even when it causes my heart to ache, I can know that He has a plan in it all and it is ultimately for my good. Having the confidence that the chaos in front of me will be f

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29 Proclaiming the gospel to those in our lives can be defeating. We know from scripture that those who do not believe literally think Scripture is ridiculous - they cannot see the Truth. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. - 1 Corinthians 1:18. It can be frustrating and heartbreaking to try to speak truth into the life of an unbeliever because they are blind to the truth.  Even with a better understanding of the unbelievers in my life, the reality of this verse is still difficult to swallow at times.  To acknowledge our

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29 So if our charge is to open the eyes of people in our lives who don't see His truth, why aren't we doing more of that?  Most people, including myself, would say they feel inadequate to share the gospel. We don't feel we know enough, or we can’t say it eloquently enough, so we stay quiet. We worry that we may be challenged and not know the answer, so we don't even open the can of worms.  That is such self-focused thinking. Worrying about what to say means we want the glory, it means we want the knowledge or think that we have what it takes to open the eyes of those people and save t

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29 We know that it is only God who causes the human heart to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ—the glory of Christ. And when we see him for who He really is, we receive him for who He is.  But what can we do to help others see the glory of Christ?  In this passage, Paul reminds us that we are to warn everyone and teach everyone with all wisdom. We can look again to 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 to find the answers: "What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Paul believed his role was to proclaim Christ from a heart of love and

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29 People of this world think it is folly for us to put our faith in a Creator because we can't see Him.  They think it is foolish for us to believe in things that are yet to come because our Savior has promised them to us, yet they put their faith in future things all the time.  Many of us love our lives filled with fear. Fear is just another form of faith - only it's faith in the wrong thing. Fear believes in things that are yet to come, it just chooses to believe in trials and tragedies. Fear defined is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, like

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29 When Paul wrote this letter to the church in Colossi, he was speaking to a broken church that was arguing and debating about many issues, most of which stemmed from superior knowledge or wisdom. Paul reminds the church in this passage that it is the cross itself - the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus - that is God's saving event.  At that time, when people were looking for a regal King, many Jews refused to worship a crucified Messiah. It didn't make sense that their King would die such a gruesome death at the hands of the people the Jews expected Him to defeat. They wanted a man of

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29 The great mystery revealed to us is that Christ is in us. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He lives in you. Think about that for a minute. The same Jesus that healed the sick, cast out demons, walked on water, and rose from the dead lives inside of us. The same Jesus that showed love where it was most difficult, forgave the greatest of offenses, accepted sinners without judgment, and remained humble in the face of mockery and beatings lives inside of you. The same Jesus that stood up against the schemings of the enemy himself lives in you. The Prince of Peace, the Wonderful Counselo

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29 We are hopeful creatures - the reality is we hope all day long. As I sit on my couch this morning, looking out at the snow, I hope traffic isn’t too bad this morning. My husband has been interviewing for a job that I hope he gets. My son flew to LA yesterday - I hope he’s safe while he’s there. My car is in the shop this morning - I hope it doesn’t cost too much to fix. I think about the future and I hope my husband will be able to retire and travel the world. I hope my grandchildren grow up to know the love of Christ. My heart has clung to bigger hopes for a long time as well - I hope my sons live a

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. - Colossians 1:21-23 I think sometimes as mature Christians, we blow past these types of verses too quickly. We think since we already recognized our need for a Savior and surrendered our lives to Him, that we don’t need to spend much time meditating on who we once were. It’s like a checkbox we’ve already marked off - been there, done that, moving on.  But it is important we call to mind who were before Christ rescued us, it’s important we meditate on how very blind, how very alienated we were. When we look back to what He has done for us, it helps us to f

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. - Colossians 1:21-23 At the very end of these two verses, Paul reminds us of our job as reconciled believers of Christ. We are to be ministers of His message. Minister in this passage is not translated as an ordained clergyman, it simply means servant. We are called to be servants of the Gospel that saved our lives.  So what does it mean to be a servant of the Gospel? Clearly, it first means we are called to share what He has done in our lives who we once were, and we have now become. I’ll be the first to admit that sharing the Gospel of Christ with non-be

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. - Colossians 1:21-23 Since we were once separated and unforgiven, but now made whole through our relationship with Christ, we have to constantly be battling who the world says we are and find our identity in who He says we are. But that can be so challenging some days. When the world is shouting our failures at us, it can be easy to lose hope. So, Paul tells us how to push through the negativity of outsiders in verse 23.  First, we must be firmly established in our faith. This means in times of distress the Word of God needs to be so firmly planted within

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. - Colossians 1:21-23 Thankfully, Paul did not stop at who we once were, but continued on to who we presently are. “He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him”  We are reconciled to Him. While we once were alienated, we are now restored in our relationship with Christ. While we were once separated and broken, we are now made whole. Being reconciled to Him means we are now part of His family. We are His adopted children. He has chosen us, and brought us into a community of

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. - Colossians 1:21-23 Looking back into our past can be difficult for many people. It’s hard to acknowledge who we once were without it pulling us into the pit. But it’s important to acknowledge Christ for what He rescued us from. If we don’t look back to who we once were, we fail to recognize all that He has done for us. Looking back should humble us and remind us of His amazing grace. If we are ever going to show others the kind of love, compassion, and forgiveness He has given to us, we have to remember from where we once came. When Paul looks at our pas

and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. - Colossians 1:21-23 When you read these three verses together, you see Paul is presenting our past, our present, and our future.   Our past ~ And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds. Our present ~ 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Our future ~ 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.  I find this interesting because so much of our mental and emotional anguish is the result of wrong thi

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. - Colossians 1:21-23 In this section of Colossians, Paul encourages us to continue steadfast in the hope of Christ. Steadfast is unwavering, ever pursuing or pushing forward toward a goal. Paul is suggesting that we are unwavering in our hope. The problem is that’s not what we are doing. So many of us struggle with hope. Depression and anxiety are the opposite of hope, but they are on the rise - not Hope. The increase in diagnosed cases of anxiety and depression in adults and children is so significant that they are calling it a pandemic. The statistics are st

being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; - Colossians 1:11 When we read this full prayer, we notice that Paul is praying for the Spirit to strengthen the people of Colossi with the power of His glorious might so that they would have endurance and patience. That might be an interesting dichotomy to many in the world. Strength and power are typically associated with force and influence, courage or fighting a battle. While strength is generally active, endurance and patience are idle verbs. By the world’s standards, endurance and patience are often associate with weakness because they require no action. So, to some in the world, it may seem at first glance that Paul is praying for the people of Colossi to be strengthened in order to be weak. But to any of us who have been on this journey with Him for any length of time, we know that we need strength to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.  If the purpose of God’s

being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; - Colossians 1:11 We know when we are filled with the Spirit, we will experience the strength to endure, the patience our heart desires, and the joy of His presence. God has made no provision for us to live the Christian life, only for Him to live his life through us.  The problem is that many of us read a verse like this and think to ourselves:  I need to be stronger, I need to have more patience and endurance, or I need to have more joy. But every time we do that, it’s a fail. God has made no provision for us to live the Christian life, only for Him to live his life through us. We simply cannot do it alone. We cannot live this Christian life without him - we cannot be all He has called us to be in our own power. The Holy Spirit IS the Christian life. He lives through every yielded follower who acknowledged their life is not their own.  We know there are ways we ca

being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; - Colossians 1:11 This life is impossible without His strength, His endurance, His patience, and His joy, so we need to be filled with His Spirit. But so many of us sacrifice the blessing of being filled by our choices every day.  How do we forfeit the filling of the spirit?  Yesterday, we talked about the dangers of resisting the conviction of the Spirit as one way.  But we can also forfeit the filling of the Spirit when we desire against the spirit. If we find that we're not filled with the fruits of the spirit, it may be because we're desiring against the Spirit some place in our life.  The spirit wants one thing for our life, but our heart can be set on something else. In some situations, we need to take a strong stance. End the battle and make no provision for the flesh to win. If there is a place you are tempted toward sin in your life, remove yourself

being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; - Colossians 1:11 We don't have a lot that God has promised yet, but we do have His Spirit. We know at the moment of salvation, His Spirit comes to dwell within us, and it is that Spirit that gives us the strength and the power, the endurance and the patience, and the joy to face the life we must love here on earth.  So the question begs, if the very same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of me, why do I continue to struggle?  At the moment of our conversion, we get all of the spirit. The problem is that the spirit doesn't get all of us - that's why we still struggle with anxiety, anger, fear, despair, loneliness, and all those other heavy emotions even though we are filled with the Spirit. When we find we still struggle with heavy emotions, it should be a huge red flag to look deeper into our heart. Our flesh and our spirit are in constant